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To have and to hold…

Singapore, 29th September 2014

I was away in Bali over the weekend to attend a friend’s wedding. I generally do not share too much of my private life but what made this something special is that lighting had everything to do with the success of the wedding day. The ceremony was held just before sunset on a dramatic cliff edge overlooking the sea, the drinks and congratulations when the day made its transition into the night with the dinner under romantic lanterns swinging from the trees. First of all it could have been raining…it was not…it was a beautiful day with blue skies creating a rich palette of colours and reflections, the lush greenery and flowers on land with the glittering sea in the back ground. When the sun started to set, the rich colours of the sky turned into their usual deep blue, purple, amber colours and yes…evens a small crescent moon was in attendance with little fishing boats and their lights gradually going out to sea for their night fishing. Garden lights popped up against a sky that slowly transcended from day into night.

The lanterns that were strung as a canopy of light above the dining tables, not surprisingly (or maybe surprisingly) were all with good old incandescent light bulbs, adding to the overall warm ambiance. A sight truly taken straight from a dream movie and lighting had everything to do with it. While I looked at all this with my professional lighting designer’s eyes, I could not escape the thought that the mood and ambience was pure and honest and put together by people with feelings and not engineered by lighting professionals…yes by event professionals probably, but with hart and with the limited capabilities (and budget) of the local site, complementing and enriching. It all felt right…something that we should all aspire, specifically as professionals.

As a professional lighting designer I am married to lighting…to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish… 🙂

Light Watch 5-162: Some of the beautiful sceneries that we will remember… (R+G congratulations!)